Cropsmith can help
increase your yields
Cropsmith is a nitrogen management company based on the need to take soil nitrogen supply into account when making nitrogen recommendations.
The Delta Yield Concept
The delta yield concept simply looks at the change in yield as you apply nitrogen fertilizer. Implicit in this concept is that the soil provides a certain amount of nitrogen and as you apply fertilizer N you will get different levels of yield increase above what the soil provides. Calculating delta yield for an area of a field requires a simple rate study. Rates in the study should include zero, your current nitrogen rate and rates that are higher and lower than your current rate by at least 40 lbs of N. Using the results to create a nitrogen response curve you can calculate the most economical N rate. For each soil that would have a different response to N you would need to repeat he response study to determine the optimum N rate for the soil. Using the information generated by this type of study you can start to improve how economically you can apply nitrogen.
Illinois Soil Nitrogen Test (ISNT)
The Illinois Soil Nitrogen Test is a measure of a fraction of soil organic matter. Measuring this part of organic matter gives us an indication of potential release of nitrogen from the soil. Using values from this soil test and local calibration data from on-farm plots with similar cropping systems, we can predict the response for those areas of the field. The benefit of being able to use a soil test to predict response to nitrogen is that is easier than doing multiple response studies across all your fields. These maps that are created using ISNT can be used for many years because the test is measuring a property of the soil that can only be changed slowly over time.
Cropsmith can help you get started using ISNT to learn more about the nitrogen mineralization capacity of the soils you farm.
We can guide you to where you are going to get the most benefit for your nitrogen dollars. We often will be able to reduce your nitrogen bill.
We can collect the samples, run the analysis and work with you on making recommendations for your fields. We can also set up and analyze response studies on your farm to better understand the benefits of variable rate nitrogen management with ISNT.
